Hunsaker coaches final game as Utah Valley loses in WAC tournament

The green jacket officially has been retired.

Utah Valley was limited to one field goal in the final 16:13 of the second half Thursday and lost 55-40 to Cal State-Bakersfield in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament at Orleans Arena, ending the career of veteran Wolverines coach Dick Hunsaker.

Hunsaker announced Saturday he was stepping down after 13 years at the school.

“We’re going to see what the plans are,” the 60-year-old said. “First, I’m going to take care of my grandkids and be around the house for a while. Just take a step and see what develops. It’s been a wonderful run at UVU.”

Hunsaker was hired by the school in Orem, Utah, in 2002 when it was still a junior college known as Utah Valley State and led the program’s transition to Division I. He went 198-129 with the Wolverines and guided them to the WAC regular-season title last season.

But Hunsaker, whose Ball State team almost upset eventual national champion UNLV in the 1990 NCAA Tournament, is best known nationally for his sartorial style, including a neon green jacket he wore during big games.

Hunsaker didn’t have on his trademark sport coat Thursday, and the fifth-seeded Wolverines (11-19) could have used the lucky charm. Utah Valley trailed 24-22 at halftime before using a 9-0 surge at the start of the second half to grab a 31-24 lead. But the Wolverines missed 12 of their final 13 shots as No. 4 Bakersfield (14-18) closed the game on a 13-1 run.

Utah Valley finished 12-for-45 (26.7 percent) from the field.

Tyrell Corbin had 13 points, and Aly Ahmed added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Roadrunners, who meet top-seeded New Mexico State in the semifinals at 6 p.m. today.

Donte Williams led Utah Valley with 15 points, and teammate Zach Nelson had 12 points and eight rebounds.

“We really scrambled and competed to get back in the game,” Hunsaker said. “It appeared early in that second half we might even have a chance to take a little control, but we came up dry on some possessions and Bakersfield made some plays and they just really clamped down on us defensively.”

In other quarterfinal games:

Reese Holliday had 18 points and eight rebounds, and No. 2 Missouri-Kansas City overcame a sluggish start to beat No. 7 Texas-Pan American 70-61. Deshon Taylor added 16 points, and Martez Harrison had 14 points and six assists for the Kangaroos (13-18), who will take on No. 3 Seattle (15-14) in the other semifinal at 8:30 p.m. today.

Isiah Umipig scored 17 points for Seattle as the Redhawks rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat sixth-seeded Chicago State 49-45.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.